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Lessons on targeting family mental health and improving outcomes for children of parents with a mental illness

Nature Mental Health volume 2, pages 893–900 (2024)Cite this article

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Abstract

Children of parents with a mental illness (COPMI) are at risk of adverse outcomes, as well as of developing a mental illness themselves. Recognition of modifiable risk factors, along with targeted initiatives and interventions have the potential to improve their and their families’ strengths and resilience, and thus effectively interrupt this vicious circle of the transgenerational transmission of mental disorders. Although several international projects have been funded and implemented, their planning, implementation and translation are not free from problems and downsides, and the use of measures specifically targeting COPMI is not yet part of regular clinical practice. Here we illustrate four European projects targeting family mental health, addressing the main problems encountered and the principal focuses for future directions, as learned from live discussions between project team members, participating patients/parents and other stakeholders. Our goal was to summarize those as lessons learned and make them available to the public and research community.

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Acknowledgements

We wish to thank all families who participated in the projects. The study was funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (funding # 01GL1748B).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, Philipps University Marburg, Marburg, Germany

    Elena Toffol, Markus Stracke, Kristin Gilbert & Hanna Christiansen

  2. Department of Public Health, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland

    Elena Toffol

  3. German Center for Mental Health, Philipps University Marburg, Marburg, Germany

    Markus Stracke & Hanna Christiansen

  4. German Language Atlas Research Center, Philipps University Marburg, Marburg, Germany

    Neele Harlos

  5. Department of Children, Youth and Family, City of Marburg, Marburg, Germany

    Stefanie Lambrecht

  6. IKK Südwest, Saarbücken, Germany

    Florian Brandt

  7. Department of Psychology, Mental Health Research and Treatment Center, Ruhr-Universität Bochum, Bochum, Germany

    Sören Friedrich

  8. Council of Affected Persons and Relatives, German Center for Mental Health, Philipps University Marburg, Marburg, Germany

    Sonja Kennard

  9. Youth Council, German Center for Mental Health, Philipps University Marburg, Marburg, Germany

    Lasse Wenzel

  10. IRCCS Istituto Centro San Giovanni di Dio Fatebenefratelli, Brescia, Italy

    Giovanni de Girolamo

  11. Department of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, Faculty of Psychology, Ludwig-Maximilians-University München, Munich, Germany

    Corinna Reck

  12. Department of Social Psychology, Business and Methods, Philipps University Marburg, Marburg, Germany

    Kathleen Otto

  13. Faculty of Educational Sciences and Psychology, Institute of Psychology, Technical University Dortmund, Dortmund, Germany

    Ricarda Steinmayr & Linda Wirthwein

  14. Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany

    Babette Renneberg

  15. Mental Health Research Program, The Village, Ludwig Boltzmann Gesellschaft, Innsbruck, Austria

    Jean L. Paul

  16. Division of Psychiatry I, Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy, Psychosomatics, and Medical Psychology, Medical University Innsbruck, Innsbruck, Austria

    Jean L. Paul

  17. Research Unit, Child and Adolescent Mental Health Center, Capital Region of Denmark, Copenhagen, Denmark

    Anne A. E. Thorup

  18. Institute for Clinical Medicine, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark

    Anne A. E. Thorup

  19. Department of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, Faculty of Psychology and Sports Science, Justus-Liebig-University Gießen, Giessen, Germany

    Christina Schwenck

  20. Institute of Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, Technische Universität Dresden, Dresden, Germany

    Anna-Lena Zietlow

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  1. Elena Toffol
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Contributions

E.T., M.S. and H.C. contributed to the conception of the work and wrote the initial draft of the manuscript. S.F., G.d.G., K.G., C.R., K.O., R.S., B.R., J.L.P. and A.A.E.T. critically reviewed the manuscript for intellectual content. All authors reviewed and edited subsequent drafts, and approved the final version.

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Correspondence to Elena Toffol.

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Nature Mental Health thanks Katharina Kircanski and the other, anonymous, reviewers for their contribution to the peer review of this work.

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Toffol, E., Stracke, M., Harlos, N. et al. Lessons on targeting family mental health and improving outcomes for children of parents with a mental illness. Nat. Mental Health 2, 893–900 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s44220-024-00285-3

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